Iran’s Forces on Alert as Voters Turn Out to Elect Clerical Panel

Iranians went to the polls Monday to elect a panel that chooses their country’s spiritual leader.

Iranian security forces watched for possible disruptions by anti-Western fundamentalists, who alleged the election was rigged to keep them off the 83-member Assembly of Experts and preserve the power of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, diplomatic sources said.

Khamenei, who was among the first to cast a ballot, favors improved relations with the West. He was named in June, 1989, to succeed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as spiritual leader a few days after the revolutionary patriarch died of cancer.

Sources said the hard-liners are seeking enough seats to depose Khamenei in favor of a council. A rule change by Khamenei, however, forced many of the fundamentalists out of the race.

Khamenei had ordered his allies on the Council of Guardians, a constitutional watchdog body, to require all candidates to pass an examination on Islamic jurisprudence.

Several hard-liners flunked. Some refused to submit to the exam, and others passed them and then withdrew from the election in protest.

Diplomatic sources in Tehran said there was a light turnout for the election. But the state Islamic Republic News Agency, monitored in Nicosia, said voting was extended up to three hours in 20 of Iran’s 24 provinces because of heavy turnout.

There was no immediate word on when the results would be announced. But initial results are likely to be known today.